ARTS, BRIEFLY; 'Harry Potter' Prequel Goes For $61 a Word

Compiled by BEN SISARIO

Published: June 12, 2008

An 800-word handwritten prequel to the ''Harry Potter'' series by J. K. Rowling was sold for nearly $49,000, or just over $61 a word, on Tuesday at an auction for charity in a London bookstore, The Associated Press reported. The story, on both sides of a sheet of A5 paper (about 5 7/8 by 8 1/4 inches), was auctioned at the flagship store of the Waterstone's chain to benefit a dyslexia charity and the English branch of PEN, the writers' association. In addition to Ms. Rowling, right, 12 writers and illustrators contributed short stories on cards, including the novelists Doris Lessing, Nick Hornby and Margaret Atwood and the playwright Tom Stoppard, whose mystery story sold for more than $7,000. Copies of the cards are on display in Waterstone's stores and online at Waterstones.com, and will be collected into a book available in August.